Wheel.



W. L. JAGOBY & F. B. BELL.

WHEEL.

APYLIO ATION FILED MAY 2, 1910. 974,798. Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

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W. L. JAGOBY & F. B. BELL.

WHEEL;

APPLIQATIOH FILED HAYZ, 1910- s SHEETS-SHEET if 4% Inga Wufrzesses W414;W

W. L. JAOOBY 8: F. B. BELL. I

WHEEL.

v APPLIOATIOH FILED MAY 2, 1910. I 974,798." V Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

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BY b" 49 1v b I s b2 (If g WLi'wses Inn/M219 Era/{flied WLLlLam LJagcabyW I flaw/was UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM L. JACOBY AND FRANK B. BELL, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS.

WHEEL.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that We, VILLIAM L. JACOBY and FRANK B. BELL, citizens ofthe United States, residing at ChicagoHeights, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wheels,of which 'the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wheels and process ofmanufacturing same, and more particularly to Wheels having rolled steeltires and metallic centers or bodies of a different structure orcomposition, such as cast or forged steel or iron.

Heretofore in the manufacture of car and other vehicle wheels havingrolled tires and centers of cast or other metal, the centers are usuallyfurnished with an integral rim approximating in width the width of therolled steel tire and the periphery of the center and the interiorperiphery of the tire are very accurately turned, and then the tire isheated and shrunk upon the center to rigidly secure the two partstogether. To further secure the parts together, the peripheral meetingfaces of the tire and center are frequently furnished'with inter fittingannular rooves or flanges, through Which bolts are passed parallel tothe axis of the wheel; and sometimes the side faces of the tire and rimof the center. are furnished with annular grooves to receive flangedretaining rings on one or both sides ofthe wheel through which bolts orrivets are passed as a further means for securing the tire on the wheelcenter. This construction of rolled steel tire-wheels is not onlyexpensive to manufacture on" account of the wide peripheral faces of thetire and rim of the center requiring to be accurately machined to anexceedingly tight fit, and the numerous bolt'or rivet holes to be boredand the provision of bolts or rivets and retaining rings and of annulargrooves or flanges on the tire antl wheel rim for their reception, andthe labor and expense of shrinking the tires on the centers andassembling'the other parts; but the wheel itself so roduced is not ofthe most reliable or satis actory character, especially after the rolledsteel tire becomes worn comparatively" thin or heated under theapplication of the brakes, so as to somewhat loosen its shrinkage fitonthe center and thus cause or permit a destructive Specification ofLetters Patent.

Application filed May 2, 1910.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910'.

Serial No. 558,966.

shearing strain on the connecting bolts or rivets. And in such wheels,the life or durability of the Wheel is also out of all proportion to thecombined radial thickness of the rim of the center and of the rolledsteel tire as the Wheel is no longer safe for use after the tire itselfhas been so reduced in radial thickness by wear that it is liable tofracture, as the rim of the center gives no addi tional strength to thetire against bursting, but is rather an element of.weakness to the tire,owing to the tension it exerts thereon by reason of the shrinking of theone member upon the other It heretofore has also been proposed tomanufacture rolled steel tire car wheels with cast steel or iron centersby placing the rolled steel tire in a mold and casting the centertherein, relying upon the heat of the molten metal to fusibly uniteitself to theinterior periphery of the rolled steel tire. But the wheelsproduced by this process have not proven very reliable, satisfactory ordurable, as the high heat to which the rolled steel tire is subjected bythis process tends to change the physical structure of the metal in therolled steel tire and to very greatly diminish the durability andwearing qualities of the rolled steel tire, due to the work done upon itby the rolling operation, and especially by the finishing rolls of thetire rolling mill. And in addition, the molten metal when poured intothe rolled steed tire for casting the center is very liable to fuse itsway very deeply into or almost entirely through the rolled steel tire atportions of its circumference, especially if the molten metal, whenpoured into the tire, is a little too hot; while on the other hand, ifit is a little too cool, it is liable to form. a

very imperfect fused union with the rolledtire; and in either case,produce a defective or unsafe wheel. And this process is also attendedwith a further disadvantage, thatthe cast iron or steel centers beingmolded into the tire cannot be separately inspected before beingpermanently united to the tire and the defective castings thuseliminated before being joined to the comparatively costly rolled steeltire, and to the still further disadvantage, that any annealing op.-eration to which such center is subjected must also be applied to therolled steel tire,

to its injury. It heretofore has also been proposed to manufacturerolled steel tirevlleels by casting an intermediate ring between therolled steel tire and the wide peripheral rim of a separately made castor forged steel or iron center, both the tire and the center beingplaced within a mold and the molten metal to form the intermediate ring,being poured into the. annular space between the rim of the center and.the tire on the supposition that the molten metal of the intermediatering would fuse itself to both the center and the tire, and thus fusiblyunite the same. But this method is obviously open to substantially thesame objections as that of casting the whole center within a rolledsteel tire, a s-the intermediate ring of molten metal in contact withthe whole interior circumference oftherolled steel tire must necessarilysubject the rolled steel tire to a high temperature and thus injure itswearing qualities and durability, and also be liable to fuse its waythrough or partially through the radial thickness of the tire, and alsobe liable at portions of the circumference to very imperfectly uniteitself to the inner face of the tire. It heretofore has also beenproposed to manufacture rolled steel tire-wheels by' accurately turningthe inner periphery of the rolled steel tire and the outer periphery ofthe rim of the center and then shrinking the tire on the center and then(instead of securing the parts together by bolts, rivets or retainingrings) electrically or otherwise welding small pieces or masses of metalto the tire and rim of the center at the angle or junction between thetwo, but this method is open to substantially the same objections inrespect to expense of manufacture, and weakness and lack of durabilityof the wheel produced as applies to wheels wherein the tire is securedto the center by bolts, rivets or retaining rings. v

The object of this invention is to provide van improved construction ofrolled steel tire wheel having a separately formed metalcen'ter of cast,pressed, rolled, forged or stamped steel or iron integrally welded tothe tire throughout the entire thickness of the parts at the circular orcontinuous line of weld or union, and in which neitherthe separatelyformed center, nor the separately formed steel tire will have or requireany accurately turned or machined faces at their line of junction orwelding, in which-the slight irregularities of such meeting faces from atrue circle will coiiperate with the welded joint to prevent anypossibility of the tire turning in respect to the center under thegreatest torsional strains to which the .wheel may be subjected, and inwhich the strength, hardness and wearing qualities of the rolled steeltire as it comes from the tire rolling mill will be fully preserved orretained and in no way injured ordiminished by the process of securingor welding it to the wheel center, and also to provide a process bymeans of which such improved wheel may be rapidly and cheaplymanufactured.

The invention consists in the means employed and herein shown anddescribed for accomplishing this object 01' result, the same being moreparticularly specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure1 is a central section of a rolled steel tire-wheel embodying theinvention. Fig. 2 is a detail section of the wheel center before beingassembled Within the tire. Fig. 3 is a similar section of the rolledsteel tire. Fig. i is an elevation of the finished wheel. Fig. 5 is asimilar plan view showing the tire and center assembled ready forwelding, but prior to the welding operation. Fig. 6 is an enlarged viewsimilar to Fig. 5, showing the tire and center partially weldedtogether,

and also showing devices suitable for concentrically centering the tireand center one within the other, and devices suitable for use in weldingthe tire and center together. Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6.Fig. 8 is an enlar ed detail horizontal section on line 8-8 0 Fig. 1.Fig. 9 is an enlarged diagrammatic or illustrative view, showing a shortare of the peripheral meeting faces of the tire and center prior towelding. Fig. 10 represents a modified construction of the wheel center.Fig. 11 is a sectional view, similar to Fig. 6, but representing thetire and wheel being welded together while held .in an upright position,and the progressive heating and welding operation bemg done fromopposite sides of the wheel.

In the drawing, A represents a rolled steel tire as it comes from thetire rolling mill, the same having the customary tread a and flange a Itisfurnished on its inner periphery with an inwardly projecting thinnarrow annular flange or web a between the inner and outer faces a a ofthe tire.

B is the wheel center or body, having the usual hub portion 1) furnishedwith a bore b to receive the axle, and a relatively thin plate or webportion If. The center of the wheel may be of any suitable metal, as ofiron' or steel, and formed in any suitable Way, as by casting, forging,rolling, stamping or otherwise. It is preferably, however, formed in oneintegral piece and of cast steel, and suitably annealed.

C represents a continuous or annular weld film uniting the thin innerannular flange of the rolled steel tire to the web of the wheel centerat the meeting faces or edges of said parts and filling the irregularsmall annupart a mixture therewith of vanadium steel or other metalcomposing the weld rod D employed in the welding operation. Thecontinuous weld film C extends through the entire thickness of the innerflange a of the tire and web 6 'of the wheel center at their line. ofjunction or union. And this weld annulus may be heaped or walled upslightly on one or both faces of the wheel so as to give larities orvariations a from a true circle as are naturally produced by the tirerolling operation or mill,-and the inner face of this web a ispreferably nottrued up or machined in any way preparatory to the weldingoperation. 1

The outer peripheral face or edge I) of the web 6 of the center B isalso preferably.

left with such peripheral irregularities b as it may naturally have fromthe casting,

forging, stamping or other operation by which this center is formed, sothat the small annular crevice a between the periph-' 'eral face 12ofthe wheel center and a of the tire fiangewill be of varying extentradially at different points of the circumference.

The exterior peripheral face 6 of. the

wheel center 13 is made slightly smallerthan.

the interior peripheral face a of the wheel flange a so that when thetire is externally centered by centering devices engaging its truecircular tread, the center B may also be accurately internally centeredconcentric with the circular tread ofthe tire by internal-- centeringdevices engaging the hub of the center on the inside or outside thereof,according as the hub has been already bored or not.

In order to securely and perfectly weld the rolled steel tire Aandseparately formed. wheel center B together at the more or lessirregular or eccentric meeting peripheral faces a and b of theirrelatively thin webs a b without materially heating orin any wayinjuringthe rolled steel tire or diminishin its hardness, strength,toughness or wearing qualities, the tire A and center B arefirstassembled and accurately centered in respect'to each other, the oneexteriorly or from its true circular tread and the other interiorly orfrom its hub to bring the tread of the tire exactly concentric with thehub, or the axle-bore-thereof with a narrow annu lar crevice m ofvarying width between their irregular or non-concentric meeting facesas, a and then, while the parts are, maintained in this position withthe webs a b in the same plane, narrow zones thereof directly adjacentto said crevice w are, pointby point, or progressively along thecircumference of said faces, subjected to the heat and force of aconcentrated and intensely hot and powerful flame, preferably anoxygen-acetylene flame, and progressively heated and progressively fusedand progressively welded together, the forceand intense heat of theflame blast from the oxygenacetylene torch acting to momentarily heatthe small portions, or areasagainst which it is momentarily directed tothe welding and fusingdegree, and to fuse and intermingle or flowtogether small portions of the metal of the tire and of the center fromeach side of the dividing crevice a0 and 'to fill or wall up saidcrevice and form a perfect weld, point bypoint, or progressively alongthe line of the crevice, as the flame is caused to traverse said line bymoving the wheel or torch, the one in respect to the other. To preventany thinning of the web of the finished wheel along the annular line ofthe weld by the fusing and flowing together of the metal required tofill and wall up the dividing annular crevice, a: between the tire andcenter, it is preferred to supply extra Welding metal from a welding rodas D, the

end of which is from time to time held in the flame of the torch, sothat the metal fused therefrom intermixes with that fused from the wallsof the crevice w, thus giving the weld annulus G a mixed composition ofall three metals, that of the tire A, center B and weldin rodD.

The-wel ing rod D may be of any suitable metal, as soft iron forexample, but is preferably of vanadium steel or other alloy.

adapted to give great strength and tenacity to t e weld annulus C.

If preferred, as shown in Fig. 10, 'the wheel center B may be cast orotherwise formed with a thickened portion or annular rib 6 directlyadjacent its peripheral face 6 and. the fusing of this. rib or thickenedpor-' tion by the flame from the oxygen-acetylene *torch will supply thenecessary extra metal to form the weld G and fill the crevice m and givethe weld an additional thickness over that of the adjacent webs (1. W.This may be used in place of or in addition to the for this purpose isillustrated in the drawing. The same preferably comprises a turn tableF, a tire centering ring or device G adapted to engage the circulartread of the tire and thus exterior-1y center the tirc and a wheelcenter centering device H H adapt ed to engage the hub of the wheelcenter either interiorly or exteriorly, and preferably consisting of, acone memberI-I and a segmental chuck member H The turn table is alsopreferably furnished with supports 7 adapted to engage the tire andwheel center Webs a 7) adjacent to the dividing crevice in between theirmeeting peripheral faces.

K K represent oxygen-acetylene torches, each having an oxygen supplypipe K and an acetylene gas supply pipe K connected with the main supplypipes K K. "The tire A and wheel center B may be centered and supportedin any suitable position during the progressive welding operation. InFig. 6 the same are represented as being supported in a horizontalposition. In Fig. 11, they are represented as being supported in anupright position during the welding operation and in said Fig. 11, theprogressive heating and welding operations are illustrated as beingperformed from opposite faces or sides of the wheel. As the heating,fusing and welding operation is performed progressively or point bypoint along the circular line of junction between the tire and wheelcenter, and as only a very small area or portion of the relatively thinwebs of the tire and wheel center undergoes the heating, fusin andwelding operation at a time, it is obvious that the tread and main bodyof the rolled steel tire is never at any time materially or injuriouslyheated at any portion of its circumference, or heated to such an extentas to in any way injure its wearing qualities or diminish its strengthand hardness due to the work done upon it in the rolling operation.

In practicing the invention, the tire and wheel center are preferablyassembled and centered one within the other while both retain theinitial heat incident to the final steps of their separate manufacture,that is to say, the rolled steel tire is taken freshly from the tirerolling mill by which it is produced and with the initial heat remainingtherein at the final or finishing step of the rolling operation, and thewheel center with the initial heat left therein as it comes from theannealing or finishing step of its manufacture. The initial heat thusremaining in the tire and wheel center materially facili-. tates theprogressive welding of the two members together and to some extentdiminishes the amount of acetylene gas and oxyge'n or other gaseousflame employed in the progressive welding operation.

In practicing the invention, the wheel centers 13, instead of. beingspecially cast, may be cut or bored from worn out wheels having eithersolid or rolled steel tires, thetreads of which have become so worn asto be unfit for further use, thus utilizing the centers of wheel byprogressively welding a new rolled steel tire A to the web of the oldwheel.

In practicing the invention, the rolled steel tire A may be andpreferably is of a high grade alloy steel, such as nickel chrome steelor chrome vanadium steel or vanadium steel or manganese steel, thusgiving great durability to the wheel as an entirety, while the wheelcenter may be made of ordinary carbon steel or cast iron or other likematerial of relatively small cost, so that the cost of the wheel as awhole will not be great or excessive, although having its tire portioncomposed ofrelatively costly and exceedingly durable material, andspecially adapted for the service to which a car wheel is subjected.

We do not herein claim the process by which our improved wheel isproducechbut reserve the same for the subject of a divisionalapplication hereafter to be filed.

We claim 1. A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrallyformed and relatively thin, narrow inner annular web and a separatelformed center havin a hub and a relatively thin web of smal er exteriorperiphery than the interior periphery of said tire web, and weldedthereto with a narrow weld annulus of varying width radially atdifierent points of the circumference, substantially as specified.

2. A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrally formedand relatively thin and narrow inner annular web and a separately formedcenter havin a hub and a relatively thin web of smaller exteriorperiphery than the interior periphery of said tire web and weldedthereto with a narrow weld annulus of different composition from. eithersaid tire or said center and extending through the entire thickness ofsaid webs, substantially as specified.

3. A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrally formedand relatively thin, narrow inner annular web and a se arately formedcenter havin a hub an a relatively thin web of smaller exteriorperiphery than the interior periphery of said tire web, and weldedthereto with a narrow weld annulus of varying width radiall at differentpoints of the circumference an extending through the entire thickness ofsaid webs, substantially as specified.

d:- A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrally formedand relatively thin. narrow inner annular web and a sepa- "an old orworn out wheel to form'a new rately formed center having a hub and aeither said tire or said center and containing an admixture of vanadiumsteel, and extending through the entire thickness of said webs,substantially as specified.

5. A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrally formedand relatively thin, narrow inner annular web and a separately formedcenter having a hub and a relatively thin Web of smaller exteriorperiphery than the interior periphery of said tire web, and Weldedthereto With a narrow weld annulus of varying Width radially atdifferent points of the circumference and extending through the entirethickness of said webs, and containing an admixture of alloy steel,substantially as specified.

6. A wheel comprisinga rolled steel tire having an integrally formed andrelatively thin, narrow, annular web and'a separately formed centerhaving a hub and a relatively thin web of smaller exterior peripherythan the interior periphery of said tire web, and welded thereto with anarrow Weld annulus of varying Width radially at different points of thecircumference, and containing an ad mixture of vanadium steel,substantially as specified.

metal fused from an extraneous Welding metal, substantially asspecified.

8. A wheel comprising a rolled steel tire having an integrally formedand relatively thin inner annular Web and a separately formed centerhaving a hub and a relatively thin web, and a Weld annulus integrallyuniting said webs of the tire and center and composed of an admixturefused and flowed together from both tire and center and from anextraneous Welding metal, substantially as specified.

WILLIAM L. JAGOBY. FRANK B. BELL.

Witnesses:

PEARL ABRAMS, H. M. MUNDAY.

